Recent TV Shows You Gave Up On. [Archive]

Big Orange

15-03-2009, 09:41 PM

I've watched a few shows for a long time that were pretty much guilty pleasures, but nowadays I've got increasingly discerning tastes and know proper crap when I see it.

Heroes, what the f**k?! It in its third season it has completely fallen apart at the seams and appears to be making up crap as it goes along. It had its moments but it almost completely lost direction. Mohinder suddenly became more of a anti-hero, Sylar is a turd that won't flush, Mr. Daddy Petrelli from The Black Hole & Jackie Brown was too cuddly looking to be a megalomaniac, and the core cast of characters being carted off to Guantamino was the last straw for me. Since S1 Heroes has just been struggling to go from point A to point B, then back to point A again.

And then you got the recent explosion of British sci-fi/fantasy shows that are more miss than hit, making you appreciate how good NuWho mostly is despite the increasing self-indulgence, sloppiness, and predictability of Russell T. Davies. ITV's Demons was completely hopeless despite the slick production values and decent premise, while Bonekickers was perhaps the worst BBC gaffe since Eldorado. Almost every aspect of them is pure pain. Merlin is not a bad show on principle, but it was not to my taste, and bored me.

Torchwood's first season was the only aspect of NuWho that genuinely disappointed me, but it can only get better like The Next Generation, while Primeval was a very pleasant surprise (although it got more scholocky in its second season).

Champagne Socialist

16-03-2009, 10:13 AM

I liked series 3, it was more gray.

Now Lost is a series that, ahem, lost its way.
Now this whole series appears to be trying to somehow pull itself together.
The writers seemed to have been having lots of fun going off on all their tangents, and have now gone 'oh almighty feck there's only 2 seasons left, feck feck ecclefechin!'

Took a look at that new wheddon series, looked rubbish.

198505

16-03-2009, 10:19 AM

By the sounds of it you missed Being Human, that was a great show, no I know that saw it was disappointed by that one. If you are lucky you could still catch it on the BBC iplayer, I think.

Never really got into Heros enough to watch it every week.

Was told by a lot of people that I'd love Lost, by after watching just the opening prog, I gave up. Too much of a slow burner for me

A Town Called Eureka on Sky 1 is one that has a goodish idea but is poorly thought out.

One that I miss is Eerie, Indiana. That was great show, and American Gothic, that is missed. There was another one recently about alien abduction that failed to grab me too, can't remember the name of it. And mustn't forget Supernatural I just wish I could catch more of it.

As to the new British stuff, Demons sucked, Primeval has flashes of greatness but misses more than it hits. Being Human, impressive. Torchwood series 1 was good, series 2 went off the boil for me. Just hope that Russell Davis hasn't screwed Dr Who up with hiring that kid as the new doctor

RedKing

16-03-2009, 11:19 AM

I agree that Heroes and Lost have both disappeared up their own tailpipes, never to return. Dr Who is going the same way, re-using the same two or three tropes to cover up the lack of imagination - the last Xmas special was dire.

The only thing that is a must watch for me and my good lady is Supernatural, it seems to have good writers who can actually develop plots and story arcs, talents which escape most UK writers it seems.

rac

16-03-2009, 01:00 PM

Heroes has losts it's way big time, with horribly bad character writing. Nathan a bad guy..? WTF???
Having said that- we still watch it though... only because it's something other than work for 45 minutes on a Monday evening.

Haven't seen season 4 of Lost yet. We'll get round to the box set sometime soon...

Conscious Bob

16-03-2009, 01:31 PM

I was hooked on the first series of Lost with John Locke trying to get into the mysterious chamber. As it turned out, at the bottom of the chamber was that scottish guy Desmond, talk about a let down. Never watched it since.

I got the full series of Spaced, really enjoying that at the moment.

edash

16-03-2009, 02:04 PM

Gave up on Lost after the first 8 epsiodes of Season 1, I could tell by that stage that the writers had no idea what they were doing.

New Who - stuck the first Tennant season then gave up after the first couple of season 2

Torchwood - likewise

Heroes - another one that I gave up on a couple into the 2nd season

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - first episode of season 2 was enough

Battlestar Galactica has managed to hold my interest, still got the last couple of episodes to watch.

The Wire is coming to BBC2 - not seen this yet so looking forward to checking it out, just to see if I agree with all the positive comments I've read about it.

Thomas87

16-03-2009, 02:14 PM

Battlestar Galactica has managed to hold my interest, still got the last couple of episodes to watch.

SPOILER WARNING:

Its really awful now, they find earth destroyed and then just start to wonder about... just boring, hopefully next weeks last ever episode may save it.

Supernatural though is amazing, its not afraid to try and take the piss out of itself and the choice of music is great.

Hilarity Unit

16-03-2009, 04:58 PM

Lost & Heroes have both disappeared up their own tailpipes (as Red so tastefully put it) because they have permitted backwards time travel. And when you tear up causality you have to be very very careful, and these series (along with all others) haven't even made the slightest effort.

So each week you end up saying 'is this the good x or the bad x' or 'oh look, my favourite goody/baddie is now a baddie/goody' and eventually 'oh look, I don't give a 4X any more, think I'll read a good book'.

And BTW I don't think even Dr Who deals its central tenet in a plausible manner.

Hilarity Unit

16-03-2009, 05:01 PM

And another thing: 24

No time travel but the same tired old s*** each time.

Hagbard Celine

16-03-2009, 06:11 PM

Halmyre

16-03-2009, 06:18 PM

I'm going to stick up for Lost here, I think it's excellent, and it's the only show I bother to get from a torrent. I suspect the final denouement will be disappointing, but it's fun getting there.

A recent episode threw the 'violation of causality' idea out of the window by having someone say something along the lines of "everything that's going to happen will happen, you can't change that".

Hagbard Celine

16-03-2009, 06:34 PM

Lost is pretty bad I must admit, TV for the pretentious.

Why did Twin Peaks have to finish?

Champagne Socialist

16-03-2009, 07:53 PM

Lost is pretty bad I must admit, TV for the pretentious.

Yes, because TV should be the exclusive domain sedentary dullards.

Excuse me while I retire in order to attire myself for the theater.
Ahaah hah. See what I did there? It rhymes :-p

gave up upon scrubs.

Grand designs is good though.

Chiaroscuro

16-03-2009, 08:47 PM

I gave up on Lost one episode into the second season. I found myself laughing at inappropriate places and all the running through the jungle just got tedious. For me though, the main area it fell down on was creating characters I cared about.

Gave up on Demons after one episode, so I'm not sure that even counts.

Bonekickers - dear god that was truly awful. I managed two or three, but it was terrible.

I didn't give up on Merlin but I didn't care if I missed an episode.

I gave up on ER a few years ago - as I mentioned elsewhere - just because I started to find it somewhat repetitive. The trailers for the last series look intriguing though, but I've left it too late to watch it now.

I gave up on Casualty a long time ago, but have now gone back to it. I think this is my final acceptance that my social life is dead.

Big Orange

17-03-2009, 12:27 AM

Dr Who is going the same way, re-using the same two or three tropes to cover up the lack of imagination - the last Xmas special was dire.

I love demolishing most criticisms aimed at Doctor Who.:p

While Russell T. Davies is getting more fanwankish and repetitive, with a shot in the arm by Steven Moffat next year being much needed, I don't think NuWho is going too badly when "The Next Doctor" was in second place behind Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death in terms of viewing popularity, I think the show has struck a nice balance in being accessable to casual viewers while pleasing the majority of hardcore DW fans, which is not easy to do.

"The Next Doctor" was not a patch on "Utopia", "Forest of the Dead", "Midnight", and "Blink", but it certainly had more going for it than the kitch "Voyage of the Damned" (a guilty pleasure) and that season finale too far, "Last of the Time Lords" (which kinda of pettered out).

"The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End" were deeply flawed but didn't deserve half the venom spat out at them by some sci-fi fans who seem to want elevate Doctor Who more than actually is, pulpy action adventure aimed at family viewing, with Doctor Who's fan favourites being accidental classics anyway (like "Blink" and the Dalek race).

edash

17-03-2009, 12:37 AM

I didn't watch enough to comment on the stories, I just couldn't stand Tennant in the role. I did catch Blink and thought it was great, but then he wasn't in that one much :).

Deep Black

17-03-2009, 11:37 AM

TV?

rac

17-03-2009, 12:17 PM

Heroes was diabolical last night!
It's getting to apoint where I as about to give up unless it gets it's act together soon.
And what the hell happened to the little girl Matt and odd couple partner Mohinder where looking after???

Conscious Bob

17-03-2009, 12:31 PM

While Russell T. Davies is getting more fanwankish and repetitive, with a shot in the arm by Steven Moffat next year being much needed, I don't think NuWho is going too badly when "The Next Doctor" was in second place behind Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death in terms of viewing popularity, I think the show has struck a nice balance in being accessable to casual viewers while pleasing the majority of hardcore DW fans, which is not easy to do.

I agree with that, well apart from the 'fanwankish' bit. Russell's stepping back to allow for a change in scripting. Got to give the man credit for getting Dr Who back on the telly.

Champagne Socialist

17-03-2009, 12:37 PM

I have found, while being off work, that many TV shows are improved by watching the episodes back to back.

Lost is certainly easier to follow, and I've quite enjoyed all the twists and machinations of Heroes. It does feel like the first half of season 3 was the real final half of season 2, if it hadn't been interrupted by the writers strike.
I've only just begun the fugitives story arch and am already annoyed at the rather obvious writers nerf'ing of hiro and Peter Patreli and ignoring the molley problem.

Big Orange

17-03-2009, 02:11 PM

I agree with that, well apart from the 'fanwankish' bit. Russell's stepping back to allow for a change in scripting. Got to give the man credit for getting Dr Who back on the telly.

"The Stolen Earth" & "Journey's End" were fanwankish to the extreme, it also seemed contrived how the Daleks, a mighty civilization displaying similar technological feats to the Q Continuuim and Excession, would be defeated by placing a scrappy looking master control console in Davros' lair. As I said before Doctor Who has always been pulp TV, but you can only so far with the inevitible plotholes and campness, while the Daleks need a rest.

I prefered the episodes with fresher ideas in the last two seasons like "Midnight", "The Planet of the Ood", "Human Nature", "The Fires of Pompeii", and "Blink". Helen Raynor's Sontaran two parter was the best Earth invasion story in the last two years as well.

Conscious Bob

17-03-2009, 02:40 PM

"The Stolen Earth" & "Journey's End" were fanwankish to the extreme, it also seemed contrived how the Daleks, a mighty civilization displaying similar technological feats to the Q Continuuim and Excession, would be defeated by placing a scrappy looking master control console in Davros' lair. As I said before Doctor Who has always been pulp TV, but you can only so far with the inevitible plotholes and campness, while the Daleks need a rest.

As you said yourself it's not going too badly and while I don't disagree with your comments regarding those specific episodes there's more good stuff than fair. You've already mentioned the difficulty making the show appeal to sci-fi fans and family viewers and that's with an overhaul. I'll give Russell credit for what is on the whole a brilliant job.

Chiaroscuro

17-03-2009, 08:47 PM

I didn't watch enough to comment on the stories, I just couldn't stand Tennant in the role. I did catch Blink and thought it was great, but then he wasn't in that one much :).

I've not been overly keen on Tennant as the Doctor either, even though I really like him otherwise.

Blink is definitely a stand-out episode as far as I'm concerned.

Big Orange

18-03-2009, 01:06 AM

As you said yourself it's not going too badly and while I don't disagree with your comments regarding those specific episodes there's more good stuff than fair. You've already mentioned the difficulty making the show appeal to sci-fi fans and family viewers and that's with an overhaul. I'll give Russell credit for what is on the whole a brilliant job.

But with Russell T. Davies after three or four years you can sense the cassette tape begining to bugger up and emit a ozone smell, but then again most scripted television shows are at the very peak of their excellence for only a couple of years and then get a varying decline of diminished returns after that: we certainly had diminished returns with Captain Jack since his introduction in Moffat's iconic Blitz story, who has been surprisingly quite hamstrung by Torchwood and was something of a grinning fifth wheel in the last two season finales.

It would be completely undue and inaccurate to claim the Tennant era has been a total washout and worse than the worst of the Colin Baker/McCoy eras (a vocal minority of old DW nerds seem to pine for the horrendous 80s fashion, steeply declining ratings, a pissed off Michael Grade, and Ken Dodd, which makes them look ridiculous), but his run of stories have been more markedly more hit and miss than Chris Eccleston's season which felt the most consistant in quality, overall, while Russell T. Davies himself seemed more restrained as a head writer (it also looked less over polished production value wise, if you know what I mean).

I feel Russell T. Davies has improved in some ways but declined in others as a writer: while he is certainly very good with charaterization, domestic settings, and relatively small scale sci-fi stuff, he always seemed to bite off more than he could chew with the big set pieces and concluding the storylines, and that is more obvious as the show went on. One of his better post S1 episodes is "Smith & Jones", which had an interesting original race (the Judoon), a great set piece that was well executed (the stolen hospital on the moon), and no cheating with the resolution (I prefered it to "Rose" where Rose just threw "anti-plastic" at the Auton's molten plastic master). His casting decisions have been almost uniformally good though (Bernard Cribbins is a revelation), with a few exceptions (but that does not include Tate; I find the nerdish bile directed against her mostly uncalled for).

With Steven Moffat we're going to expect the same underlining formula, but I hope we get to gravitate away from Earth (have most episodes in the vein of "Midnight", "The Doctor's Doctor", and "Forest of the Dead"), make the episodes slightly more interconnected but in a subtle way, make 2010's season finale a huge breeze of fresh air (with not a pepper pot in sight), and have companions with more exotic backgrounds, not having anything to do with what's inward of the M25.

Conscious Bob

18-03-2009, 02:15 PM

Big Orange

I think Russell has picked the right time to leave the show before he gets jaded and overstretched. That's the danger of any successful show with spin-offs.

You say he's good with 'relatively small scale sci-fi stuff but bites off more than he can chew with the big set pieces', I disagree. The recent history of Dr Who is testament to a successful effort by all involved to make the big set pieces, well... big and that is quite an achievement considering the close proximity of big and small stories. The old Doctor Who was notable for the small scale stuff and I think Russell has tried to preserve the spirit of the show while bigging up the set pieces. Kids these days are not impressed by tinfoil suits and alien planets that all look like quarries.

Steven Moffat I'm sure will be a welcome change, he's got a very tough act to follow, I think you should remember that although the quality of production has improved greatly from the old days to the point where the quality is at the standard of the American sci-fi shows, it's still licence funded BBC Cardiff not Lucasfilm.

Big Orange

19-03-2009, 01:33 AM

It is most refreshing to meet a online person who is not fanatically against Russell T. Davies (talking to them online is aking to having my teeth pulled and eyes gouged out), but while I like most of what Russell T. Davies did in the last four years, sad to say that much of his "big" stuff seems to be getting more self-indulgent and always seemed to have more holes than Moffat's or Cornell's screenplays.

Don't get me wrong RTD was integral to making Doctor Who popular again, successfully adapting a knackered out series from twenty years ago for the digital age, but he did overstretch himself and mostly treading water in the last two years, which calls for a clean slate before the revitalized franchise gets genuinely bad and alienates even the casual viewers. Too much of Voyager and Enterprise was mediocre (despite a few great episodes and characters), with the TNG movies being even more insipid, due to the regular writers hanging on from comparatively way back in the glory years of The Next Generation series and so creatively burned out (which Ronald D. Moore folding last with the last couple of dismal sounding seasons of NuBSG).

I honestly don't think having most episodes set away from Earth is budget breaking, when "Midnight" took place mostly on a small set, and the infamous quarry has already been trotted out a few times. You can't spend every second episode in Peckham or the Splot Minimarket‎, I want Moffat to expand on the potential of the TARDIS to go anywhere in anytime without straining credibility.

I've also bought Season Three of Lost, since I was really pissed off when Channel 4 sold out to Murdoch.

Halmyre

19-03-2009, 08:27 AM

I've also bought Season Three of Lost, since I was really pissed off when Channel 4 sold out to Murdoch.

I download it from a torrent. Technically, I suppose I'm stealing revenue from Murdoch, but I look on it almost as a form of payback for his tax avoidance.

Champagne Socialist

19-03-2009, 01:10 PM

I download it from a torrent. Technically, I suppose I'm stealing revenue from Murdoch, but I look on it almost as a form of payback for his tax avoidance.

reclassify it as timeshifting, like recording and watching later, but using the internet to enable it instead of a dvr/vcr

Conscious Bob

19-03-2009, 04:25 PM

I honestly don't think having most episodes set away from Earth is budget breaking, when "Midnight" took place mostly on a small set, and the infamous quarry has already been trotted out a few times. You can't spend every second episode in Peckham or the Splot Minimarket‎, I want Moffat to expand on the potential of the TARDIS to go anywhere in anytime without straining credibility.

I know what you're saying but this is the crux of the matter 'without straining credibility'.

You see back in the day of the old Dr Who, BBC special effects were a pretty mixed bag of fun. I think the Dr Who budget was spent on costumes, makeup and a couple of big set pieces, whatever was left went on the ropy stuff that held the show together. It was all fine, the fans being the viewers of the day accepted there were technical limitations.

Cut to the present and the effects are slick but the new fans weaned on a diet of CGI have high standards. The costumes and the makeup are still great but it's no longer acceptable to have the Tardis travelling through space on a piece of string, this means financial limitations.

Take a classic story arc, The Key To Time. The Tardis travels from planet to planet, it's got monsters, space pirates the lot. Imagine making that today, The money the BBC would have to spend on post production. It would cost a fortune.

Deep Black

19-03-2009, 05:28 PM

Gotta be more text in this thread than any other on here

Popular topic Big O...

Champagne Socialist

19-03-2009, 07:58 PM

Gotta be more text in this thread than any other on here

Popular topic Big O...

We care deeply about disliking these shows.
It's important.

;-)

Chiaroscuro

19-03-2009, 09:21 PM

We care deeply about disliking these shows.
It's important.

;-)

:D It's the reason Digital Spy is so busy.

Big Orange

20-03-2009, 04:57 PM

Cut to the present and the effects are slick but the new fans weaned on a diet of CGI have high standards. The costumes and the makeup are still great but it's no longer acceptable to have the Tardis travelling through space on a piece of string, this means financial limitations.

Well the CGI could look quite naff in NuWho when you see the Valiant get shot down by Daleks or the TARDIS wobble about unconvincingly when you see the Dalek's planet collection phase into view. The Dalek saucers swooping down over Manhattan looked stupid as well. But the CGI for the planet Midnight and the Library planet was mostly convincing, I liked the Sontaran warship, while the Dalek's planatoid flagship was very impressive.

Take a classic story arc, The Key To Time. The Tardis travels from planet to planet, it's got monsters, space pirates the lot. Imagine making that today, The money the BBC would have to spend on post production. It would cost a fortune.

Um, if it could be done then on a zero budget with production values that were laughable even then it could certainly be done now, only it would have take up most of the 13 episodes of a standard season, and the crew would use Cardiff's streets less. I liked "The Fires of Pompeii", they could use the Rome sets again for ancient Earth (or ancient alien) settings, while I heard rumours they filmed in Dubai.

Conscious Bob

21-03-2009, 01:00 PM

Um, if it could be done then on a zero budget with production values that were laughable even then it could certainly be done now, only it would have take up most of the 13 episodes of a standard season, and the crew would use Cardiff's streets less. I liked "The Fires of Pompeii", they could use the Rome sets again for ancient Earth (or ancient alien) settings, while I heard rumours they filmed in Dubai.

You're wrong there, the production values may well have been laughable from a post CGI perspective but they certainly were not cheap.

To say they were laughable as well is a bit of a cheap shot, I think variable is a more honest assessment.

Russell himself said there were no plans for extended off planet stories because the cost would be too prohibitive.

That's what the man said.

RedKing

21-03-2009, 06:02 PM

The Tom Baker run was my fave and had strong stories that overcame the wobbly sets and rubber monsters, but look at who was writing those stories.

Blakes 7 was also a triumph of writing over cheaper production, at least compared to today, but I still think that no-one's writing stuff that that for UK TV and probably never will again. See the tragic "remake" of Survivors, for example.

Big Orange

21-03-2009, 06:48 PM

Survivors was rather so-so, only getting genuinely good towards the end. I dunno, it just seemed a bit too soft and bright for the end of the world, with little swearing (in comparison to the superior Dead Set). Still blows Demons and Bonekickers out the water, although that's not saying a great deal.

However with Doctor Who Steven Moffat, Paul Cornell, and Russell T. Davies (on a good day) could match the strories from the 70s and early 80s in most important aspects, even if you could argue they're somewhat constrained by the way television operates today. And despite the loyal middled aged following, I doubt many under 35 year olds would find the Tom Baker era that accessable, while the 1960s DW puts me to sleep.

And about downloading TV shows: I'm contemplating downloading Dark Skies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Skies) and China Beach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Beach) since they're not available on DVD in the first place, mainly due to the companies holding the publishing rights knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing, and greedy music companies trying to enforce copyright at least two decades out of sync with today's technology.

RedKing

22-03-2009, 10:51 AM

Dark Skies, if it's the one I'm thinking of with the 60's conspiracies and Majestic, was great, but came to a jarring stop when the execs realised it wasn't pulling in the viewers by the gazillion.

Regarding the idea that under 35s couldn't access the Tom Baker era, are you saying that an audience can't be stretched by a TV series, and using that horrid newspeak "taken out of their confort zone"?

Big Orange

23-03-2009, 09:35 PM

Dark Skies, if it's the one I'm thinking of with the 60's conspiracies and Majestic, was great, but came to a jarring stop when the execs realised it wasn't pulling in the viewers by the gazillion.

Yes and it featured a pre-7 of 9 Jeri Ryan as a Soviet agent. It is interesting to note that the National Broadcasting Company and Sony Corporation are both consistantly full of fail in recent years, with Sony in particular being a world expert at ruining many potentially good things and being paranoid enough to screw over loyal consumers with wonky spy ware. With their arrogant attitude and lack of common sense, they deserved to be ripped off through piracy.

Regarding the idea that under 35s couldn't access the Tom Baker era, are you saying that an audience can't be stretched by a TV series, and using that horrid newspeak "taken out of their confort zone"?

Do you think OldWho is really out the "comfort zone" most of the time when much of it was so obviously padded and not really sellable to what today's post-MTV audience wants?

There are some very good stories and characters that have clearly stood the test of time if they were successfully adapted by RTD into something that has taken over Britain and won over millions of new fans, but I can remember when Doctor Who serials from the 1970s were being repeated on BBC 2 nearly a decade a ago and it didn't really last that long, and it attracted a lot of derision from the target audience who were digging Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the time (which is interesting since Rusty likes to emulate Whedon).

I don't want every episode to be mind f**ks, like "Blink" and "Midnight", otherwise the audience will get numbed by the relative lack of fun and trauma, then drift off (like with the ultra po-faced NuBSG from what I've heard). I hope Moffat doesn't completely change the overall tone of the show, but change it in places where it should be changed (tighten up the conclusions in season finales for example and reduce the presence of Earth within reason in the '10 season).

jag

24-03-2009, 01:15 AM

It's a knockout!

RedKing

24-03-2009, 10:52 AM

Jeux Sans Frontières, as Peter Gabriel once said.

Big Orange

27-03-2009, 08:23 PM

I currently in the middle of a Lost catch up marathon by going through the Season Three box set. Although a bit plodding it will pick up about halfway through like S1 & 2, and from what I heard Season Four is pretty belter.

Champagne Socialist

28-03-2009, 12:26 AM

I still haven't quite given up on Lost.
Though they could have fitted those last 3 episodes into 1

Champagne Socialist

03-04-2009, 05:20 PM

Had Alias recommended by a friend, so I got hold of the first two series.
I think I made it to the 4th or 5th episode, where they hack a computers 'cpu' by putting some blinking LED's on the monitor in order to steal a top secret 'cure for biological weapons', then proceeded to blow up a very heavily steel (and probably fiber at my guess) reinforced concrete arms bunker... with a shoebox of tnt.

The plot holes of a story designed to infuriate me, a quasi-geeky Civil Engineer, and my wife, a Doctor, simultaneously.

If the writers care so little for the intellect of their audience then I'm not interested.

Big Orange

04-04-2009, 11:14 PM

I'm still quite liking Primeval even if the core characters are almost as inept as Captain Jack's team of reprobates, the writing is somewhat goofy and repetitive, and CGI can be trite in places.

RedKing

05-04-2009, 09:18 AM

The BBC are showing The Wire. which is supposedly one of the best TV shows ever made. The schedule is four episodes a week, Monday - Thursday at 11:20pm. I've no chance of doing that so it effectively means I can't watch it. Cheers, Beeb!

On the Primeval show, I watched the first series mainly due to Hannah Sperrit (ex S Club) walking around mostly undressed...

Champagne Socialist

05-04-2009, 12:18 PM

I noticed a preponderance a white panties scenes, half an excuse and it'd be another scene at her apartment with the heating 'broken'. I'm surprised they moved the entire show there yet.
Primeval is a show I have given up on.
It had, and still has so much promise, but it needs triple whatever the budget is and completely different writing team.

edash

05-04-2009, 12:51 PM

I've managed to watch the first five episodes of The Wire, was on Monday to Friday last week, but I might be recording the rest of them, especially if they intend to air all the series in one go.

Champagne Socialist

05-04-2009, 12:54 PM

it's not on iPlayer then?

Deep Black

05-04-2009, 04:06 PM

Will you all make it through the 3 new episodes of Red Dwarf at the weekend?

Chiaroscuro

05-04-2009, 07:54 PM

I'm going to try. :)

I still really like Primeval. I know it's daft, but I find it really fun.

Like Ed, I've watched the first five episodes of The Wire, though I started recording them on Tuesday after deciding on Monday it'd require more concentration than I'd be likely to give it at the time of night it's on.

I didn't realise it was created by David Simon, who wrote Homicide, and I really think it's a got a similar feel.

Is it just the first series they're showing or is it, as someone said to me, all five being shown consecutively?

disrepdog

05-04-2009, 08:02 PM

edash

05-04-2009, 11:10 PM

You might have to rethink that plan. It's not on iPlayer.

Big Orange

06-04-2009, 02:22 AM

I think a lot of people jumped ship on Ultimate Force. I myself thought it was a pretty mediocre show to begin with, but then we had the ridiculous story in Africa, and we also had the incident which involved gang bangers hijacking a open-top bus (one of the worst hours of scripted television).

RedKing

06-04-2009, 05:12 AM

You might have to rethink that plan. It's not on iPlayer.

Yeah, that was my Plan B. Epic fail! :mad:

disrepdog

06-04-2009, 09:29 AM

Oh, bummer :(

Big Orange

13-04-2009, 11:43 PM

I may get death threats for typing this, I may not have much credibility as a critic, but my is The Wire convoluted and boring. Give me more accessable schlock like CSI and NCIS any day!

edash

14-04-2009, 12:30 AM

To be honest, I was thinking that myself last week. But I put it down to being tired so am prepared to see the first season through.

Conscious Bob

14-04-2009, 05:00 PM

I'm going to try. :)

I still really like Primeval. I know it's daft, but I find it really fun.

It's got plot holes the size of extinct volcanos but I think it's one of the best sci-fi series ever on telly.

198505

14-04-2009, 09:04 PM

I make the effort to watch Primeval. Thought the Clone Army was a good idea.

Chiaroscuro

15-04-2009, 07:34 PM

I may get death threats for typing this, I may not have much credibility as a critic, but my is The Wire convoluted and boring. Give me more accessable schlock like CSI and NCIS any day!I must admit I've found it hard to get into partly because of the number of characters, partly because sometimes I feel a bit lost as to what's the bloody hell's going on :o. But I do like the time it's taking to get familiar with the characters and how, like Homicide, there's not a central character.

To be honest, I was thinking that myself last week. But I put it down to being tired so am prepared to see the first season through.
I'll blame my confusion on being tired too (even though I've been recording it). :D

After Monday's episode it's really got its hooks into me though.

It's got plot holes the size of extinct volcanos but I think it's one of the best sci-fi series ever on telly.
:)Glad it's not just me.

I make the effort to watch Primeval. Thought the Clone Army was a good idea.
Apparently there's going to a movie of it, or at least so it says here (http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2009/04/itvs_primeval_to_get_hollywood_treatment.html). What's the bettering they'll replace the cast though - and it's the way this particular bunch interact that makes it work for me.

RedKing

15-04-2009, 11:08 PM

Will they replace the cast with some 'merican teens for added box office?

Conscious Bob

16-04-2009, 02:00 PM

Will they replace the cast with some 'merican teens for added box office?

I thought that was mandatory.

I remember another great piece of ITV telly sci-fi, Chocky adapted from the book by John Wyndham.

Speilberg's got the film rights.

Cue american alien.

Big Orange

16-04-2009, 03:27 PM

ITV has really gone down the shitter in the last five to ten years, with only Dexter, Primeval, and (in small doses) Harry Hill being genuinely good. Demographs, technology, and viewing habits have shifted, with traditional commercial television not being what it once was (of course it is typically worse in the assbackwards US, with great shows like Shark and, allegedly, The Sarah Connor Chronicals getting canned for no reason).

Most of Primeval is mindless camp, what with the femme fatale MILF and her clone army of Phil Collins, but it is streets ahead of Torchwood, Robin Hood, Demons, and (now and again) some episodes of NuWho.

Conscious Bob

16-04-2009, 04:11 PM

Most of Primeval is mindless camp, what with the femme fatale MILF

I bet you would youngster, language!

Deep Black

16-04-2009, 08:23 PM

I remember another great piece of ITV telly sci-fi, Chocky adapted from the book by John Wyndham.
I remember Chocky, pretty creapy. Can't recall how long back, but must have been 20 years ago.

Conscious Bob

17-04-2009, 01:25 PM

Mid eighties, there were a couple of sequels but the first one being the book adaption is the best for me.

Big Orange

20-04-2009, 03:16 PM

Primeval may have its flaws, but it is best UK pretender to the resurgent Doctor Who, and a million times better than the terrible Jurassic Park sequels.

Actual quality can sometimes be overrated and while The Wire is certainly not a bad show in itself, the general tone was not to my taste and the bordering on hysterical deityfication of the show online was bound to lead me to disappointment and alienation (I guess Farscape and FireFly especially would have that effect).

While I liked the acting and some of the characters, the back to back airing late at night helped to make it a chore for me to sit through for me, with the ignorant gang banger and crooked police department subcultures being depicted in The Wire depressing me rather than entertaining me.